Paire Thanksgiving
by Harthos
Summary: Claire finally gets to meet Peter's new fiance, when she is invited to spend Thanksgiving with the two of them, shortly after they are engaged. Slight "Paire," is hinted at, but mostly "Pogue" a prequel to "Lifetime Waiting."


This is a sweet little story I have been working on for a bit, now. I am terribly sorry it's so late, for Thanksgiving. Anyway, there is not much, Paire in it, actually. In fact, it's more Pogue, than Paire. However, I call it that, because it is a prequel to my other Paire, story.

And thanks to all those of have favorited that one. I hope this one will be as much enjoyed.

It was Thanksgiving, 2032. Peter Petrelli, and Rogue, had invited their Neighbor's, the James's, over for thanksgiving dinner. Peter's old friend, Claire Bennette, had also come in, to spend Thankgiving with them. While the rest of them sat outside, munching on veggies and ranch dip, Claire helped Marie with dinner.

As the two women finished preparing the meal, they chatted with each other.

"Wow, I'm so glad I FINALLY get to meet you! I mean, Peter's talked a lot about you over the phone, but I never could get him to introduce me to you, till now. He goes on and on about how beautiful you are, you know. I can see why."

"Oh STOP!" replied Marie, blushing slightly. She was currently busy chopping carrots for the salad.

"Well, he's right you know." Claire said, sincerely. "I especially like your hair color."

"Which one!" Teased Marie. She was actually quite shocked to be praised so, by this beautiful, sweet-faced, blonde. "Just kidding. But thank you. What about you?"

Claire looked at her for a moment, with a look of concern, before responding.

"Well, um… what has Peter told you about me?"

"Well, not a lot. I sorta talked him into telling me that you're ability is invulnerability."

Claires eyes went wide.

"He didn't tell you how old I am, did he?"

"No, no." Said Marie, reassuringly. "Actually, for the longest time, he wouldn't even tell me how old HE was, or even that he was invulnerable. But after he proposed to me, I said I wasn't gonna marry someone when I didn't even know his age."

"Oh my gosh! Really!"

"Yep," said Marie, grinning.

"Well," Claire said, carefully, "…I'm 11 years younger than Peter…"

"But that would make you…" Marie paused for a brief moment, doing the math, then patted Claire's shoulder, firmly. "No way..! You're actually 41 years old?" Said Marie, full of skepticism.

"No," Claire said, grinning mischievously. "…I'm only 40. I don't turn 41 for another few months."

"Must be nice," said Marie, with a teasing smile. However, Claire couldn't help but notice a tinge of bitter pain, in her eyes.

"So, what is your power?" Claire finally asked after a long pause. "I mean, Peter says it's a lot like his. He won't ever tell me exactly what it is, but he keeps saying that how you first met has a lot to do with it. Which, he won't tell me, either, but I've been dying to know, Marie."

"Well…" Marie started, putting down what she was doing. She paused for a moment, looking ahead.

"Claire, I… I have to know something, first. Peter kinda told me how you too met, but…. He won't really say much, when I ask him. He just says you too go way back.. I figured he was just trying to be considerate, because of the whole age thing..? So, how long have you known Peter?"

Claire looked at her a moment, smiling thoughtfully.

"So, he told you how we met..?"

Marie nodded, "He said he received a message that you were in trouble, and he went to help you out."

"Lemme guess, he said that it was **ME** who saved HIS life…?" Claire asked, grinning.

"Yeah..He told me he'd be dead, if not for you."

"He would," Claire chuckled. "Marie, lemme tell you a bit about how heroic I was that night… what kind of girl I was then." She softly set her hand on top of the other woman's hand. She closed her eyes, slowly shaking her head. "I first discovered my powers while trying to commit suicide." She said, with almost no emotion in her tone. Marie just stared at her for several moments.

"Oh wow. I thought it was bad for me… um, I'm sorry. "

"No, it's ok. But let me explain. You see, at first, you can imagine how torn up I was. I couldn't even be allowed SUICIDE. I tried…. Well, lot's of different things… slashing my wrist, then stabbing myself. At one point, I even jumped off a building. As much as I had hated myself and my life before, NOW, I felt like a total freakshow. But then, one day, when I was walking home from school, I saw…." She snickered with sarcastic bitterness, "What looked like a really good opportunity. There was this building on fire. I thought: 'just maybe it's hot enough in there.' So I ran in. But when I got inside, I heard a man crying out for help, so I went over to him, and helped him out of there."

"Wow," said Marie. "You were only 15?"

"Yeah. That's when I knew. I knew that someone…somewhere up there, WANTED me to live, must have had some sort of Purpose for my life…But I still felt like a freak show. I think that's how Sylar found me, though.." Clair looked away, out the window, and got real quiet before continuing. By this point, Marie had finished the carrots, and was working on grating the cheese. But she paused for a moment, to allow Claire to continue.

"It was the night of the homecoming game. I met this random college aged guy in the hall on the way to the game. Good looking, easy to talk to." She couldn't help grinning, and Marie was sure she saw a twinkle, in the blonde lady's eye.

"Peter.."

"Yep," Claire smiled towards her.

"Anyway, after I got dressed, I had just had a big fight with this other cheerleader. We had been friends growing up, but had grown apart. We were just about to go out on the field, when the lights suddenly went out. It really freaked us both out." Claire was starting to get choked up. Even now, so many years after the incident, the memory still almost brought her to tears. "It all happened so fast, I don't entirely remember all of it, but a few moments later, he had her up against a locker, and… and, he killed her. I ran away from him, as fast as I could, and somehow ended up running into Peter again. He actually told me to run away, while he held him off. I thought he was almost as insane as the murderer who was chasing me, but I didn't have time to argue. A few minutes later, I saw him lying on the ground, having fallen out of the second story window."

She then looked up at Marie, smiling.

"So yeah, I guess technically, without my power, the fall probably would have killed him, but you could hardly say I was the hero there."

"Wow," said Marie, taken aback by her story. She looked into space for a few moments, just taking in what she had just heard.

"Alright," said Clair, finally, "Your turn. Now you HAVE to tell me how you and Peter met."

Marie rolled her eyes, grinning, and blushing just a little.

"Well, my story's not nearly as exciting as THAT one. I guess it's only faire I go ahead and tell you how I first discovered my power." Claire was looking at her intently, all ears.

"I was 16. I was at my house with my boyfriend, Kyle…" Now Marie began to get all serious and quiet

"*Sigh* We had just started to get really serious…." She closed her eyes for just a moment, and took another deep breath. "We ended up having our first kiss that day. My first ever, actually…" She looked away. "I almost killed him. He ended up blacking out, and we had to take him to the hospital. It turned out, every time I touched someone, I absorbed their… energy, their life. Later on, I found out if I did it to mutants, I could take their powers for a short time.

"Oh my gosh…." Said Claire, "Peter said your power was like his, but I just thought… I mean, I guess I didn't really know what that meant."

My parents didn't speak to me for a few days. After that, they started trying to act normal around me again, but I could tell, that in their minds, I was no longer the little girl they raised. I could see it in their eyes."

Claire could tell now, that these memories were very painful to the other woman, and she felt for her. Caire Bennet knew all too well what it was to be hated and shunned.

"It didn't matter anyway. I could never hug or kiss them again." She said bitterly, "So, one night, I packed up a few things, and left. I never looked back. I had never felt so alone. I could never have close physical contact with another person. A relationship with a guy was clearly out of the question." Now, Marie looked away quietly. She sighed before continuing. "Eventually, though, I met professor Xavior. For once, I felt slightly less isolated. I couldn't believe how kind and considerate he was, and so were most of the other people that lived there. But even being around people similar to me, it still took me a long time to get to where I was entirely comfortable in large groups of people." She paused a moment, looking down, then back up at Claire, "I mean, you end up spending all of your time worried you might accidently touch a passerby. Anyway, after a few years, I worked with Professor X's X-men for several years, until I decided to branch off on my own. One day, though, I was walking through a big, outdoor mall, in Chicago. It was hot that day, so I was wearing a sleeveless outfit. Bye now, I had learned to control my powers slightly, and besides, I had my long gloves on, so there wasn't much chance of anyone touching me." As Claire watched her intently, she began to get more and more in to her story. "Then, it happened… All of a sudden, this thin, dark haired, good looking, young, guy, practically crashed into me. At first, I was a little surprised, even somewhat irked at his not watching where he was going, but then I realized that he had actually grabbed my shoulder with his hands! My naked, uncovered flesh, with his bare hands! All he said was: Excuse me!" And moved on. I was shocked. I had to see what his deal was. I immediately chased him down, and pulled him over against a wall.

'Ok, what's up with you?' I asked him.

'Look, I told you I was sorry, ok'" He was firm, but he didn't sound the least bit upset towards me.

'Wait,' I said to him quietly. "By this point, I was really torn up about just what to do." By now, Claire could see Marie's eyes starting to water up just a little bit, "I mean, I had finally met… I knew this guy was a Golden opportunity; I COULDN'T let him get away. I introduced myself to him, trying to be as cool and collected as I could be, but every part of me right then, was screaming out: "KISS HIM!"

He looked at me, with those, sweet, strong, gentle eyes, saying his name. I was so shocked right after that, when he asked if I wanted to go get a cup of coffee. I had kind of been in a hurry, on my way to meet a friend in another state, but like I said, when you just know, you can't let him get away."

Claire smiled at her, with a look of acknowledgement, "I know what you mean."

"So, I decided I'd just call my friend and tell her I might be late…" She smiled a mischievous smirk, "Really late, I hoped. We started walked towards the coffee shop he had mentioned, and I couldn't help myself, I took off my glove, and reached my fingers towards his hand.

At first, I think he thought it was a little awkward to be holding hands so soon, and I immediately felt a sinking in the pit of my stomach; I really didn't wanna seem too forward, you know. But then, I looked over, and saw him smiling at me, before he grabbed my hand, and gently held it in his own."

"So, I guess you two hit it off right away, huh?"

Marie rolled her eyes, and Claire caught just a glimpse of her blushing, slightly.

"Well, not at first. Well, we spent awhile just enjoying each other's company, and I'm sure you know what a good listener he is. Honestly though, I really couldn't wait to make out with him," she said, starting to blush again, "Being raised in Mississippi, I was always brought up to be a proper lady, but, my GOD…Claire, do you know? When you haven't ever….*Sigh*", she smirked. "Well, let's just say that, it was quite a while longer before I made it down to see my friend."

Claire responded with a mischievous grin of her own.

"But, it definitely wasn't all physical. I mean, he's just such a gentleman. I could tell that right away. I could also see what a big heart he has," She said, with a gentle, affectionate, smile.

"I know what you mean. It's in his eyes, isn't?"

"I know. Yeah, we must have talked for HOURS, just that first day. Anyway, like you said, we pretty much hit it off, right way, and here we are. God, Claire. I NEVER thought I would even be able to have a relationship with a guy, much less get married."

Claire smiled a sweet, sincere smile towards her, reaching over to place her hand on Marie's shoulder.

"I am so happy for you."

"Thank you," Said Marie, her smile glowing, now. After a moment, she looked away, back to her cooking, and her smile faded, just slightly, almost imperceptibly. She knew Claire must be wondering about her, so she made herself release her next thought.

"Claire," she said, turning back to the blonde woman, with a smile. It was a different kind of smile, this time, a more, 'friendly' like smile, "I have to be honest… I can't help sensing….something more between you and…" She trailed off, noticing Claire's reaction. The younger looking lady was blushing slightly, and Marie hoped she hadn't spoken out of line.

"Well… I probably should have told you this at the start… I'll be honest, I too, fell for those soft, warm, brown eyes of his, right from the time we first met, but…." She trailed off, looking away…Geeze, this was even harder than she had thought it would be.

By the time she looked back towards Marie, she was blushing deep red. She paused a moment, taking a few deep breaths.

"Marie, this doesn't ever leave this room, ok?"

"Of course, Claire," said Marie, concerned, "I promise."

Claire smirked nervously.

"Ok… it's kind of complicated, but… *sigh*, shortly after we met… we found out that…." Again, she had to gulp, "That my real father, was actually his brother.."

Marie was shocked, this was actually the last thing she would have expected to hear. Unfortunately, Claire sensed her surprise, and hurriedly added, "But, ever sense then, we've really grew to be more like brother and sister, heh. Well though, the past few years, we haven't had as much chance to see each other, but…"

"Well," replied a smiling Marie, "I'm really glad you were able to join us for Thanksgiving."

"Thanks. Me too. I'm really glad I finally got to meet you. Now I'm even happier for Peter."

"I guess we all have a lot to be thankful for, this year," Said Marie, "Speaking of which, I'm sure everyone's getting hungry, so enough chit chat!"

She quickly walked over, and opened the oven, where the large, beautiful turkey had been kept, to stay warm.

"Right! I'll go tell the other's it's time for Dinner."


End file.
